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Hansen breaks down New Zealand’s winning formula

Date published: October 9 2016

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has explained what sets New Zealand rugby apart from the rest of the world.

The world champions crushed South Africa 57-15 in Durban on Saturday to equal the record of 17 consecutive Test wins. It also ensured they finished the Rugby Championship unbeaten with six bonus-point victories in a row.

While the Springboks seem lost and unsure where to go from here, Hansen explained why New Zealand never find themselves in similar crisis.

"The big thing we have going for us at home is that we have quality people and quality administrators making good decisions. The franchises are driven well and those coaches are striving to be better all the time. You can go right down to schools level where they’re trying to produce players that go on and become professionals. It’s a breeding ground for good players," Hansen said after the game.

"The golden goose is our central contracting system because when you have good administrators at the top in control of contracts, then everyone has to work together because you only have one paymaster," Hansen continued.

"There are no other people with other agendas. Our only agenda is to win matches and produce quality players. There is a lot of work that goes both up and down."

Hansen also highlighted New Zealand's planning as a major factor for why they stay competitive despite losing legends like Richie McCaw and Dan Carter.

"We planned very well for the World Cup and beyond, we really did, and put a lot of work in to ensure we had a captain ready to lead from the front and Kieran [Read] has done that magnificently. We knew we were going to lose a lot of experienced players, but we’ve been working hard on our skills and game for a long time. Our defence and attack has really come along and we’re delivering a great product."